Extraordinary
by UltraVioletSpectrum
Summary: AU. Overachiever Light Yagami has signed up for peer counseling, but he never expected someone like L to join. Though all hope seems lost through Light's eyes, as his life is reduced to shambles, he realizes that L could be his only lifeline. HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1

I took one step into the room and stopped dead, frozen in my tracks. Not him. Anyone but him. I stared stupidly at the person in front of me, eyes wide, jaw unhinged in the gape-open position.

"Hello," he said bluntly. "I am L. Are you my peer counselor?"

"Y-yeah," I muttered, managing to break my eyes away from his slim figure. He was so skinny. I felt his obsidian-eyed gaze pierce the back of my skull as I shuffled to one of the empty chairs in the center of the room.

As he made his way to the opposing chair, I caught a scent of what smelled like sugar coming from him. It made my nose scrunch up, and I tugged at the collar of my jacket trying desperately not to sneeze.

He sat in the weirdest position. It made me wonder why he wasn't in some therapy instead of here in simple peer counseling. I managed to shrug it off. We sat in an awkward silence before he finally said, "So should you start, or do you want me to?" He commenced to chew on his thumbnail, still staring me down with those dull obsidian eyes.

My stomach started to tie into a nervous knot. Start. Where _should_ I start? When our school psychologist started up the peer counseling program, she probably didn't even think that someone like L would sign up. There was no doubt that it was intended for people with minor problems, like divorced parents, relationship problems, I don't know. Not someone with L's problems. He was a freak, to say the least. He was hopeless. He never slept, only ate sweets, had too many publicized quirks about him. Peer counseling? Really? He needed something more like intense long-term professional psychotherapy. "In a lock-up facility," I murmured to myself.

"Hm?"

"Oh, nothing. Why don't you go ahead." This could get interesting. "Tell me why you're here." Dr. Honda suggested it as an icebreaker, you know, to open conversation.

"Well, it keeps me off the streets."

Figures, I almost said.

"I'm just kidding," he announced to my dismay. "Dr. Honda says I have to do fifteen hours of counseling this term." He drew up a baggy sleeve from the white t-shirt he was wearing to glace down at his wrist. "Ten minutes and counting," he announced with a smile.

I still couldn't get over how pale he looked in contrast with his tangled mass of jet black hair. I had to admit, it did look rather fashionable, but it was still messy. It matched his eyes almost perfectly. "Do you put any product in it?" I blurted out before I could stop myself.

"Huh? My hair?" he queried, self-consciously running his fingers through his raven-black locks. "No. It just gets that way on its own. I've never really cared for complex hairstyles."

"Oh," I muttered, not taking my eyes off the bruises under his eyes. Did he _ever_ sleep? At _all_? Maybe that's what all the sugar he ingested all the time was for. My eyes traveled down to his torso. He definitely had one slim figure. Not the toned kind, the unhealthy kind. His stomach… he didn't even really have one. There was a possibility he could have been anorexic, but I doubted it. He probably just had high metabolism is all. He had virtually no muscles, so I knew he didn't exercise.

"Sixteen minutes," L announced abruptly, bringing me back to reality with a start. "This isn't really that bad. Do you want to talk about my abdominal area, as well? Because you keep staring at it."

My face flushed a bright, hot red. I stared down at my feet, pulled out the peer counselor folder, and opened it. My hands trembled. _Why am I even here?_ I wondered. _I can't do this._

"How about we just start with our names," he suggested. "My name is Lawliet, but everyone just calls me L. Don't ask me why." He grinned a small, broken grin in my direction.

It almost made me smile back. Almost. "I'm Light Yagami."

L held out a hand to shake. "Nice to meet you, Light-kun."

I flinched and scooted away involuntarily.

L returned hi hand back to his foreleg. "How about you tell me about yourself first. Then maybe I won't be so nervous."

He was nervous? My hands would probably register on the Richter scale by now. "All right. My name is Light Yagami. Everyone calls me Light." My eyes met his for a moment. He shrugged.

"Um… I'm seventeen and in eleventh grade. My favorite subject in school is algebra. I'm in honors and math club… well, _used_ to. I had to quit. Oh, I also did soccer for a few months and—"

L yawned audibly and stretched his arms toward the ceiling. He glanced toward the clock set on the table. "How time does fly when you're having fun." He set his feet down to the floor and smiled in my direction. "And that's about all the fun I can stand for one day."

I stared as he padded across the room to the door. I noticed he walked with a slouch and that he kept his thumbs in his jeans pockets. As he opened the door, he gave me one final glance and said, "I'll see you Friday, Light-kun. I'm feeling better already." And with that, the door closed and L disappeared.

_Great_, I thought. _I feel sick_.

I dashed quickly down the halls of the school counseling center to catch Dr. Honda before she had a chance to leave. Perfect, she hadn't gone yet. "It won't work, Dr. Honda." I stood in front of her desk, panting. I added, "He's beyond help."

Dr. Honda sighed, pushed her papers aside and glanced at me. "Now, Yagami," she said. "No one is beyond help." She tipped the nose of her square-rimmed glasses down and studied me with her piercing green eyes. "Hm?"

"He's not my peer, Dr. Honda," I told her with a quivering tone. I nearly blurted out, He doesn't have a peer. But instead, what came out was, "I don't think I'm cut out to be a peer counselor."

"The first session is always a little rough. Believe me, I know. You probably felt as though nothing was accomplished, am I right? But you'd be surprise how much progress was made. Just knowing that _some_one cares is self-asserting, Yagami. Truly."

"Well, that's just it. I _don't_ care." My cheeks flushed. There, I said it. Now she'd have to take me out of the program. I had no compassion whatsoever.

"Let's just say that with Lawliet, there is more than what meets the eye."

I arched my eyebrows. "That's a scary thought."

She chuckled. Rising to her high-heeled feet and clicking toward the door, she told me, "You only have to meet twice a week, Yagami. Give it another session."

What?!

She added, "See if you don't change your mind."

Oh, it'd take more than chains and bullwhips to change my mind.

She glanced at me and flashed her perfect white teeth at me. The sharp scent of her perfume bit at my nose. I managed to smile back, even though I felt like puking.

_Me_ as L's peer counselor. This wouldn't be good at all.

* * *

Hey, gays! WHOOPS I MEAN GUYS. Seems you've found my newest story. Well, this baby here is VERY strongly based off the book Define "Normal"by Julie Anne Peters. I highly recommend reading it, it's a wonderful book, if a little short. There are lots of similarities from the book, but don't ever say I copied anything, because I would never in my days of fanfiction ever stoop that low.

I based this off the book because Antonia reminds me a LOT of Light, just without the God complex. I do kind of wonder what she would do with a Death Note, though. lol So LIght represents Antonia in the story. Now, Jazz... I love her, man. She's just awesome. Surprisingly Mello reminds me more of her than L. Then why does L represent Jazz in this, you might ask? Well, I was originally having Mello take the role of Jazz, so I was imagining scenes in my head of the two in parts from Define "Normal". But then, I was like, "melloxlight mmmm sexy... wait wut." So... yeah. Hence the reason L now takes over the roll of Jazz.

babbabshshja Enough of my rambling, remember to reveiw! ^w^

**EDIT**: Okay, I am annoyed. I've reached the document limit here, so I can't upload the second chapter. Can ANYONE, **ANYONE** please help me with this? I mean, what do you do when the document limit is reached? I know I seem like a n00b for saying this, but SERIOUSLY. Help is GREATLY appreciated.

~_UltraVioletSpectrum_ (aka Mo)


	2. Chapter 2

The whole walk home, I was fuming. The only reason I ever volunteered for the peer counseling program was that I could do it during the day. All right, I'll admit that it was a honor to be asked, and I needed to do some extracurricular activities since I'd had to quit math club. But it was a huge sacrifice giving up my homeroom period for peer counseling. Now I'd be up until the crack of dawn completing homework. And for who? Or, should I say, for what?

That's what L was. He was a what. A subhuman. A foreign body to avoid in the hallways. All of those Wammy's kids were… well, there were a few exceptions, like Matt. But even so, if anyone figured out I was counseling Lawliet, I'd be the laughingstock of the whole school. Of course, nobody was supposed to tell who was in counseling; it'd break the oath of confidentiality. But everyone knew. There were never any secrets at Shubuitara High School. I'd be the butt of all the jokes. I'd be hung out on the grapevine to wither and die. Uh-uh. No way in hell Dr. Honda was going to force me into it.

Or could she?

I could tell Misa and Sayu were already home. I could hear them screaming at each other from across the house. I desperately hoped nobody would call the cops on us for child abuse. My heartbeat quickening, I raced to the kitchen, backpack still slung around my shoulder, to see just what the girls were fighting about this time.

I was going to find out soon enough. Just then, Misa stormed past me, tears streaming down her face, fists clenched so tightly I was sure her palms would start to bleed soon enough.

In vain, I tried to calm my fourteen-year-old sister down. "Misa, what's going on?" I asked, putting a hand on her should just as she passed me.

She quickly slapped my hand away and screeched, "Leave me alone!" She ran into her room, choking back sobs. I closed my eyes and sighed, rubbing my stinging hand where Misa had slapped me. I slowly made my way back into the kitchen to talk to Sayu, who was undoubtedly sulking in a corner.

What do you know, I was right. Huddled in between the counter and the refrigerator, I could hear her sobbing audibly. I sucked in a quick breath and crouched down to approach my little sister.

"…Sayu?" I whispered, stroking her hair gently. She sniffed and turned to look at me, brown eyes wide and sparkling with tears. One side of her face was red. "What happened, honey?"

She turned away and wiped her eyes with a sniff. "Misa was being a bitch." I stiffened at my twelve-year-old sister's sudden language, but I pushed it aside as she continued her explanation. "She told me I stole her stupid test she was supposed to turn in today when I really didn't, and she slapped me and scratched me and…" She started crying again. I hastily embraced my sister in a hug and told her soft reassurances.

Soon enough, she calmed down, and I told her, "I'll talk to her later, okay, Sayu? She probably just has it buried in that mess that she likes to call her room." Sayu's spirits seemed to lift at that, and she quickly dried her eyes.

It was then that I got a good look at the kitchen. It was a nightmare. No, more like a nightmare and a half. Bits of cereal were scattered all over the counters. Dirty dishes were piling up in the sink. Wrappers and envelopes and pages of newspapers littered the kitchen tile. A wave of exhaustion flooded over me, and I sighed. I got up on stiff legs and opened the fridge. "Where's dad?" I asked Sayu, who was getting up to retreat to her room and sulk some more. "Wasn't he supposed to go shopping today?" The fridge was barren. Nothing except month-outdated jug of milk and a bottle of ketchup remained in the refrigerator. Which was a crying shame, seeing as I was starving and I usually had an after school snack once I got home. My stomach rumbled at the sight.

Sayu looked down at the dirty floor. "He's sick."

"Again?" Frustration blazed in me, but I kept it hidden.

Sayu looked at me with innocent brown eyes.

"All right," I said in a sigh. "I'll go get some groceries after I've had a talk with Misa. You need anything?"

"No," Sayu told me blankly, leaving the room. "See ya, Light."

I made my way upstairs to talk to Misa. I was dreading to confront my sister in such a mood as this, but Sayu was counting on my to solve the problem. Heavy metal music blared behind Misa's closed door, and I could hear her singing along in a melancholy voice. I knocked on the door gently, but loud enough so as Misa could hear me.

"Go away," I heard her voice tell me.

"It's Light. I want to talk to you."

"I _said_ 'go away'." She was insistent on keeping everyone out. I squeezed my eyes shut and sighed. This would be difficult.

"Misa, come on. I just want to talk." When Misa didn't reply, I slowly turned the knob, only to find it was locked. I groaned. "This is ridiculous, Misa. Unlock the door and let me in."

"No!" she yelled.

I lost my temper at that moment. "God dammit, Misa! Unlock this door I swear to God I'll break down this door myself and take out the belt!" I screamed. I instantly wished I hadn't, and a lump started to form in my throat.

There was a moment of silence before Misa opened the door. She looked terrible, tears streaked her face, like Sayu. It made her mascara watery. I wanted to embrace her in a huge hug and apologize, but I know she didn't like hugs, and would probably find it embarrassing that _me_, of all people, would be the one to do so.

She flopped down her bed and refused to face me as I seated myself on the edge of her bed. "So you think Sayu stole your test from you, huh?"

She nodded vigorously. "I know she did. That little whore."

"Hey!" I snapped in a low tone. "Watch your language." She buried her head into her pillow, and started to sob. I felt like doing the same thing, but I restrained myself. I sighed before saying, "Misa, let's think this over a second. Why would your little sister take your test from you?"

"I don't know!" she mumbled between sobs, muffled by her pillow.

"Are you sure you didn't throw it away? It might have gotten lost in here somewhere."

"Yes! Do you think I'm really that irresponsible?!" Misa screamed at me, lifting her head from the pillow, fire blazing in her blue eyes as they stared into mine.

"I'm not saying that at all, Misa! I'm just trying to help is all. You don't need to yell at me."

She gave out a shaky breath and calmed herself down. "I know. I'm sorry, Light. It's just that now I'm failing chemistry all over that one test that I didn't have with me today."

I could agree with her about the grade. I was almost positive I would die if I'd gotten anything below an A as a final grade. Misa managed to keep her grades pretty high, but she was straining to do so. She'd have flunked seventh grade if not for me and my constant supervision.

"Well, don't worry about it too much. I'm sure you can make it up somehow. Tomorrow you can go in and ask your teacher if you can re-take the test after school, okay? How does that sound? I'll come and pick you up, if you'd like."

Misa smiled at me. "Okay, Light. Sounds like a plan."

"Glad to hear it." I got up and left the room, shutting the door behind me. Abruptly, tears welled in my eyes, and I made my way downstairs feeling like I was going to burst out sobbing. It was my fault the house was a mess. I should have cleaned up at least a little bit before school. I should have done a load of laundry. I should have checked on dad. I recomposed myself before I opened the door and called out, "I'll be back in a little while, you two." Their replied were incoherent through the walls, but they were there. I grabbed dad's wallet and walked out the door, slamming it shut behind me.

I practically ran to the bus stop, eager to get away from the house. If I didn't have to take care of the girls, I would have never came back.

* * *

Hurr, I love this chapter. :P I decided to make Misa Light's sister because... well, I wanted to.

So you might be wondeirng how I got the document thing resolved? I just deleted a few. It didn't do anything to the stories, at least not yet. So, no need to apologize if you didn't know how to help, because that's okay. You can't know everything. ^w^

Reveiws are very nice to read, they make my heart smile. ^w^

~_UltraVioletSpectrum_ (aka Mo)


End file.
